


Simple and Clean

by Chocoomba



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9659570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocoomba/pseuds/Chocoomba
Summary: Cloud returns to Radiant Garden just in time for Valentine's Day.My submission to the Strifehart Valentine's Week 2017. Day one, theme: Love.





	

Hollow Bastion had developed nicely since he had last seen it. True to its name, the city truly had blossomed into a Radiant Garden. The streets were cleaner and more colorful; houses were habitable; the fountain flaunted its clear water, and all around it children played loudly and couples held hands.

Walking through the once desolated city, a small smile tugged at Cloud’s lips. Although he hadn’t lent his own hands to help _too_ much with the city’s restoration, he felt an odd sort of pride swell in his chest over seeing it grow.

On his way home, he stopped by the florist shop to say his greetings to Aerith. The store was unusually crowded this day. She waved at him when she finally spotted him through the crowd, but the line of customers kept her trapped behind the cash register. He waited patiently outside the shop for her, knowing that she would be unhappy if he left without greeting her properly.

Eventually the shop grew quiet. Aerith hopped over the counter, mindful of her dress, and then walked straight to Cloud and hugged him briefly around his chest. She was one of the very few people he allowed such intimacy with.

“Cloud! It's so great to see you again. You were gone for quite long this time,” she chirped.

“Sorry...”

Her smile turned melancholic. “Well, as long as you keep coming back with your life and body still intact, I won’t stop you.” Not that she could. That was a battle long lost.

Cloud was about to make a promise. A promise that, between him and his arch-nemesis, he would always be the one to return alive; but he stopped himself, and opted for an ambiguous nod instead. Sometimes it was better to keep things simple.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Aerith said and held up a finger, motioning for him to wait for her as she walked back into the shop and bent to grab something from behind the counter. She pulled out a bouquet of white and yellow flowers. It was a modest and rather small bouquet in comparison to most of the others on display in the shop, but Cloud found its candor to be beautiful in its own way.

“Here,” Aerith said and handed Cloud the bouquet. Cloud looked at it with a puzzled expression.

“Uuh...”

Aerith giggled. “One of my customers ordered it the other day, but they called in to cancel this afternoon. Something about having a fight.”

“Okay? So what am I supposed to do with them?”

Aerith paused. She seemed to have to think about that for a second, twirling the tip of her bangs around her finger as she did. “Oh. Um... Put them in water? Or how about giving them to someone special? Today is Valentine's Day, you know,” she eventually said and winked at him.

Cloud looked over the flowers again, his face softening as he did. They smelled nice, and really was beautiful; though, if that was because of the flowers themselves or Aerith's skillful floral arrangement, he couldn't say. Then he suddenly frowned as if he'd bitten into something sour. His cheeks and ears turning a warm pinkish red. It was fascinating to watch, and the most emotion Aerith had seen on his face for a long, long time.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Whoever you were just thinking about, you should _definitely_ give it to them.”

Cloud gave her an odd look and said: “... I wasn't thinking about anyone in particular,” while scratching at the back of his neck.

Aerith simply rolled her eyes.

“Suuure.”  
  


* * *

  
It was a mixture of disappointment and relief to find the house to be empty when he arrived. He didn't know how he would've explained the flowers without making a fool of himself had _he_ been home already.

Cloud went straight to the kitchen, placing the bouquet carefully on top of the kitchen table before quickly rummaging through the cabinets for a vase.

_Give them to someone special_ , she had said, and Cloud's mind took the bait and jumped directly to the only person he could absolutely _not_ give them to. Not without bringing up questions he didn't want to answer to.

He found a tall, unpainted glass vase in one of the cabinets, and as he filled it up with tepid tap water, his mind began to wander.

He nearly jumped at the sound of the door being unlocked, and the dark shape of Leon stepped inside, donning his usual battle gear and gunblade hanging from his belt. Their eyes met and Leon stopped dead in his tracks, surprise evident on his face. Apparently no one had told him of Cloud's arrival.

Leon caught himself quickly, and he looked from Cloud to the kitchen table, where the flowers still laid in plain sight.

“You got me flowers? You shouldn't have,” he gibed and chuckled as he removed his jacket and kicked off his shoes. His gunblade was the last to go, placing it carefully back in its leather casing.

Cloud snorted. “Don't flatter yourself. I got them for free and thought they would like nice in my room.”

Leon raised an eyebrow at that. “The one you never use?”

“Maybe if I spruced it up a bit, I would.”

During the rather short length of their conversation, Cloud hadn’t looked at Leon once since he had entered the house. Even though he had long since filled up the vase with water, he kept pretending to be busy at the kitchen counter; running a soft cloth along the inside of the sink to dry up the excess water and then taking out the plates and dinnerware for the two of them and placing them neatly on the kitchen counter. So, when he finally did turn around, he was surprised to find Leon standing right behind him with the flowers in his hands. Staring at the petals, seemingly lost in thought.

“... Are you alright?” Cloud asked, the foreign, detached look in Leon’s eyes slightly worrying him.

The sides of Leon's lips twitched but never quite formed the smile it seemed to attempt. “Yes.” He palmed his face as if embarrassed. “These flowers are just a bit... nostalgic for me,” Leon answered without looking up.

“I just remembered there was a whole field full of these growing at the back of the orphanage where I grew up,” he explained further when he caught the confused look on Cloud's face.

“... You can keep them if you want.”

“I thought these flowers weren’t for me?” Leon teased.

“They weren’t!” Leon smiled knowingly as he noticed Cloud scratching the back of his neck. A bad habit of his that let slip that he was lying.  
  



End file.
